There was a knock on the door at 9 am. Fatty opened the door and greeted Taller

“Hey man, How are you? Come in!”

Taller looked at Fatty with his frown pushed down to the limit of making the eyes as thin as a knife’s edge “You doing alright?” Then he looked inside the house “I heard your wife left you?!” Taller took a few steps ahead to reveal Shorter right behind him.

“Oh, Hey shortie! You came along !” Fatty finished his sentence with a confusing tone fading suddenly.

“Yeah, I am the muscle! I go where Taller goes! and only Taller can call me shorty! You fat little piece of shit!”

“Calm down my friend. Come in and have a seat”

Taller had already stepped inside. ” I like how you have done nothing to the set up after your wife has left”

“What do you mean?” asked Fatty

“I mean you are being yourself, that is all a man gotta do!” Taller walked towards the couch, pressed the cushion once and then sat on it comfortably.

“You think I had a land mine waiting under the couch?” Fatty remarked jokingly

“No, I thought you had an AIDS syringe maybe!” Taller was stern

Shorter laughed, pressed the cushion too, and sat down.

“So what would you gentleman like to have?” Fatty asked with a courteous smile

“I will have a whiskey on the rocks, whichever you got! Again, do not give me a choice. I hate choices!”

“and you my friend?” Fatty re-oriented his head towards Shorter

“I will have the same”

Taller re-oriented his head towards Shorter too and he gave him a ‘stop peer pressuring yourself’ look. The kind where his eyes retracted into their sockets and the herds of skin around his cheeks and forehead gathered for a talk.

Shorter kept looking into the thin air and started to whistle a little. Taller looked away in the opposite direction after a millisecond.

Fatty returned with 3 glasses of whiskey and placed them neatly on the table.

“Do not forget to use the coasters. I have just cleaned the house.”

Taller picked up his glass, sipped the whiskey and placed the glass right where he picked it from.

“Why are we here? We are not friends! We robbed you quite a while back. Why would you like to meet us again? What is your problem?” Taller’s pitch stayed at ‘answer soon or I will harm you’ baritone.

“I need your help. I need to find out where my wife is, and, what kind of life is she living! Also, I need evidence of her lifestyle. Pictures and videos would be helpful.”

Taller leaned forward to Fatty’s reply, then retracted back to the most comfortable he could be on the couch, crossed his legs, moved his eyes from Fatty to a corner of the room where some random pictures were hung “How much can you pay for this job?”

Fatty looked down and smirked and then looked back at Taller again “I think I paid you plenty already, But I will pay you 3000 dollars more.”

Taller smirked hiding it with his hand and then looked straight into Fatty’s eyes “You called me here. I did not come here for charity. I think you are a good guy and I will help you. But the right price is 10 grand. Not a penny less. Again, no choice here. Agree?”

Fatty shrugged a little and sat down exchanging ‘help me here’ looks with Shorter. Shorter just gave him the ‘I am with him’ look.

He put his head in his hands. It took him a moment to rise back up “Okay, I will pay you 3 grand now and the rest when you provide evidence. Is that alright?”

Taller smirked again, only this time he did not hide it “Great! Hand me the dough in a clean and new envelope and I am off to your investigation. I will call you in a week with the progress.”

Fatty went inside and got the money in a clean and new envelope and handed it over to Taller “Here you go! I trust you for no reason. I hope you are the man you seem to be!”

“I am a professional Business person. I never step back from my word.” Taller blabbered while getting up. Both Taller and Shorter shook hands with Fatty and left.

1 week later

Fatty was sitting on the couch and watching news on the t.v when the phone rang.

He looked at the phone and picked up smiling “Hey man, I was expecting your call anytime now. You are a professional Business person after all. Tell me, what do you have for me?”

“Your wife lives in New York now. She rents a small place and works as an assistant at a small business office. They make office stuff, like envelopes, boxes and other stuff like that. She seems to be staying alone.” Taller replied calmly.

“Do you have evidence ? Videos? Pictures?”

“Yes, I do. I am leaving New York today and will be at your place on Friday this week. Evening at 5 mostly. Be ready with my payment”

Fatty was frowning for some reason but contained it in his speech “Sure. I want to thank you again for doing this.”